*Author's Note - this chapter contains material that some readers may find distressing or triggering. If you or someone you know has been hurt please seek help and know that you are never alone.

Sam's POV

I managed to feed the story about being too tired to leave the house to Two-Bit for almost a week. Every morning I'd brush him off with some excuse about being tired or my wrist hurting. He'd stayed at home with me most of the week and that bothered me, Two-Bit liked to go out, he liked adventure. I hadn't meant to impose my self-exile on him. Tuesday morning I was watching cartoons when Two-Bit sauntered in and plopped himself down next to me.

"So, Sam, do you want to-"

"No, Two-Bit." I didn't even bother to look up from the T.V as he turned to me.

"Just hear me out. I know you don't wanna go out and chance running into one of the guys, I get that, but aren't you going just a little stir crazy being stuck inside all day? I am!"

"I didn't ask you to stay here with me Two-Bit." He ignored me.

"I know you need to get out of the house, even for a few hours, so I was thinking we could go bowling." That caught me off guard.

"Bowling? Two-Bit do you even know how to bowl?"

"Sure I do! Grab a ball, throw it down the lane and try to knock down the white sticks. C'mon it'll be fun, you need to get out and the fresh air will do you good. And I've already checked and all the guys are working today, so no risk of seeing any of them, unless you want to." He backtracked at the look on my face. "It'll be fun, please? Just for a few hours and then we'll come straight home." His hands were clasped together and he was practically on his knees, begging.

"Fine." I sighed and turned off the T.V as Two-Bit jumped up and cheered.

"C'mon let's go!" He grabbed my hand and all but dragged me out the door.

XXXX

"I really need to get me some wheels." Two-Bit said as we walked towards the bowling alley.

"Don't you need a job to save for a car?" I teased and Two-Bit looked at me with mock hurt.

"A job?! Why would you say such a hurtful thing?"

When we reached the bowling alley I was shocked. There was a mix of Greaser and Soc cars in the parking lot and I expected to see a giant fight happening but it was quiet.

I turned to Two-Bit, "Greasers and Socs?" I asked.

"Yeah, the bowling alley is right between the West and East side so it's kind of neutral territory. There's a diner and bar attached that the Socs stick to so it's a tuff hangout, otherwise we wouldn't be caught dead together. But we stick to the separate sides and besides, the owner Mike doesn't take shit from anyone; he wouldn't let some punk kids damage his business or his reputation."

I nodded as Two-Bit opened the door for me but I was still surprised to see how this was going to play out. I followed Two-Bit inside and he got us each a drink before he gestured to a table. "You wait over there, I'll look into getting shoes and see what the wait time is."

I turned with my Pepsi in hand and started heading for the tables when I looked up and saw the last person on the planet I wanted to see. I completely froze and my muscles turned to ice. My mind was screaming at me to run! Run away! but I couldn't make myself move. As the figure continued coming closer to me I could suddenly feel the humiliation again and smell the urinals from the Mens room, like I was transported right back there.

He glanced at me as he got closer and did a double take before smirking and angling towards me. He stopped right in front of me still with that smirk on his face and whispered, "Well if it isn't Pony's girl. Come back for round two?" My heart ached at the mention of Pony and I was struggling to draw a breath when suddenly I went from fear to white hot anger. How dare he talk to me! How dare he mention Pony in front of me and how dare he mention what he did to me like it was no big deal!

Before I could register what I was doing my arm raised and I brought the Pepsi bottle smashing down over his head. Glass and Pepsi went everywhere and I leapt at him, tackling him to the ground as he fell in surprise. I was screaming and swinging my arms wildly trying to get at him any way I could and I knew it was only a matter of time before he composed himself and fought me off.

Before he could I felt two strong arms circle me from behind and pull me off while shouting in my ear. I couldn't calm down though. I continued to struggle and scream and I barely registered the tears streaming down my face. The arms hauled me out the front door and pushed me into the back seat of a car which sped off.

I was breathing heavily and struggling to draw breath when I registered it was Two-Bit next to me and his words slowly penetrated my wall of anger. "Just breath, Sam! Put your head down and take deep breaths!"

His hand forced my head to lower and I heard a voice from the driver's seat ask "Is she okay?"

"I don't know man, just get us to my place." Two-Bit answered.

I could feel the anger starting to disappear and the hurt, pain and embarrassment came flooding in. I was still struggling to get enough air in my lungs while Two-Bit continued to chant at me to take deep breaths.

When the car pulled up at Two-Bit's I jumped out and headed straight for the house, down the hall and into my temporary room without even acknowledging the driver.

Two-Bit appeared a second later looking terrified, "Sam what's wrong? Please talk to me!"

I stopped pacing the room and sat on the bed, dropping my face to my hands. Suddenly I felt exhausted as all the adrenaline left my body and I bawled. I felt the bed dip as Two-Bit sat next to me and gathered me in his arms, rubbing circles on my back.

I knew he was talking but I couldn't make out the words through my tears. After a while I settled down slightly and with tears still coming I started to push away from Two-Bit but he wouldn't let me.

"You're crazy if you think I'm going to let that go, Sam. Please talk to me, tell me what happened."

I couldn't look at Two-Bit as I deliberated in my head. What would he think of me afterwards? How angry would he be that I'd walked alone and been jumped? How angry would he be at that Soc whose name I didn't even know? I didn't want Two-Bit put away for murder but I didn't know how much longer I could keep what happened to me to myself, I needed to let it out.

"Remember a few weeks back when I fell down the porch steps and bruised my face?" I asked quietly, still not meeting Two-Bit's eyes.

"Of course, what about it?"

"I lied. That's not what happened." Two-Bit looked surprised but I kept talking, "I was supposed to wait for you to walk with me to the DX but after you didn't show I got tired of waiting and walked on my own. I thought you were all being way too over the top with the protection detail and it was broad daylight so what could happen? When I got the park I noticed a car pass me a couple times in different directions and I got nervous so I cut through the park." I felt Two-Bit stiffen slightly as if he knew where I was going with this.

"When I came out it was parked along the road and I couldn't bring myself to walk past it so I went back into the park to cut around the toilet blocks but these guys stepped out and stopped me. I tried to fight back as they dragged me inside the toilets but they were too strong." I felt my eyes welling up again and was amazed I had any tears left to shed. Two-Bit exhaled a shaky breath and kept an arm wrapped around me as he ran the other through his hair listening to my words.

"The leader knew I was Pony's girl and he wanted to hurt him so he…" I trailed off, I just couldn't bring myself to say the words. I felt like they were lodged in my throat and I was choking on them but I couldn't force them out. To say it out loud would make it real in a way I just didn't think I could deal with.

"He what, Sam? What did they do?" Two-Bit asked his voice dangerously low in a tone I'd never heard before.

I buried my face in my hands again and shook my head as I tried to explain, "They…he touched me and…I tried to get away but he slammed me against the wall so hard and I hit my head and started to black out but I heard him say…" Two-Bit was like a solid rock beside me and he sounded like he was in agony as he choked out "What did you hear him say? What did he do? Please tell me, you can do this."

I turned into Two-Bit's chest before answering so he couldn't see my face. "He said 'I'm going to enjoy this' and when I woke up they were all gone but…my pants were down and…there was blood…" I couldn't utter a single word as more tears overtook me and Two-Bit's arms came around me so tightly I was surprised I could still breathe.

"I'm so sorry that happened to you Sam. I'm sorry you went through that. I'm sorry I didn't show up that day. I'm sorry that you felt you had to hide it." I felt a tear drop onto my forehead and realized Two-Bit was crying and I broke down and sobbed. I sobbed for what had happened to me, I sobbed for Two-Bit feeling guilty about it and I sobbed with relief that I had finally told someone and it didn't feel like the world was going to end. Two-Bit stayed with me as we held each other and cried.

XXXX

Two-Bit's POV

After what felt like hours I glanced down at Sam and saw she was asleep, her cheeks wet from the tears. I slowly unwrapped my arms and wiped her cheeks gently before covering her with the sheet and heading down the hall and out the front door. I collapsed onto the porch steps and dropped my head into my hands.

How was I supposed to deal with this information? This was something you hear about happening to other girls, not anyone you know. I felt immeasurable guilt at not having shown up to the Curtis place that day to walk with Sam, too busy chasing skirts to think about a trip to the DX. I couldn't believe she kept that hidden from us for so long.

I felt the tears coming again but pushed them away, just sitting and taking deep breaths trying to figure out where to go from here when I heard footsteps. I looked up and saw Steve walking up the path, I hadn't even heard his car pull up.

He stopped in front of me with his hands in his pockets and looked at me, taking in my face before asking "What's going on, Two-Bit? Curly Shepherd came by the DX looking for Pony to tell him his girlfriend had just glassed and beaten the crap outta some Soc at the bowling alley." I winced at the memory and shut my eyes as I felt Steve take a seat next to me.

"Tell me what went down at the bowling alley." I turned to look over my shoulder to make sure Sam was still inside before turning to Steve. I wasn't sure if this was the right thing to do or not but I just couldn't deal with it on my own, it was too huge.

"Sam lied a few weeks ago about injuring her face. About falling down the porch steps?" I prompted when he looked confused, "She walked alone to the DX and got jumped by those Socs Pony confronted in the diner."

Steve narrowed his eyes at me slightly "That's a hell of a reaction for her to have towards someone who jumped her." I took a deep breath and looked down at my hands, the guilt clawing its way back up.

"They didn't just jump her Steve. They…they wanted to hurt Pony, like really hurt him so they…they raped her." I choked out the last few words before covering my mouth as nausea threatened, I just couldn't get my head around this, it was too big, too traumatising.

"Jesus Christ." Steve swore "Why would she go ahead and walk on her own?" he asked angrily and I felt white hot rage at the implication that Sam was to blame here.

"It wasn't her fault! She was waiting for me and I never showed up! I was too busy getting some action to bother going to the DX."

"I didn't mean it was her fault Two-Bit I'm angry at the situation not her, and it wasn't your fault either. You have every right to spend your time however you want, you didn't cause this." I grunted but didn't really believe him, I knew it wasn't right to blame myself but I would also never forgive myself for not being there.

"What do we do now? Do we tell someone? Maybe Darry or Soda could-"

"No Steve!" I interrupted "This is Sam's business and it's up to her what to do, I probably shouldn't have even told you."

"Well we have to do something, we can't just let them get away with this!"

"I know! You think I don't want to hunt them down and kill every last son of a bitch that did that to her? Let's think clearly here, Steve, it's not like Sam can report them, we both know that'll never go anywhere."

Steve nodded slowly before replying, "Then we take matters into our own hands. We'll deal with it ourselves, just like we always do."

I frowned at Steve, "We can't go getting ourselves arrested for murder, Steve, what good would that do?"

"I'm not talking murder Two-Bit, we don't have to kill them to make them suffer." I glanced over at Steve and saw the murderous rage in his eyes usually reserved for rumbles, "I'll think of something, just give me a bit of time." Steve said before getting up, "I've got to get back to work, you going to be okay?" He turned to me before glancing over my shoulder and I turned to see Sam coming out the front door.

"Hey kid, long time no see." Steve offered and Sam stared at him before turning to me.

"You told him didn't you?"

I looked away from her guiltily, what was the right answer here? Steve saved me from having to answer by taking the steps up to Sam.

"I'm glad he did, Sam. You can't keep that kind of shit to yourself, let us help you." Sam's eyes starting welling up again and she wrapped her arms around Steve who awkwardly patted her back. "We'll figure this out okay? We'll make them pay." Steve took Sam by the upper arms and pushed her back before stooping to meet her eyes and she gave an attempt at a smile as she nodded. He nodded back, "I have to get back to work, we'll keep this between us for now okay?"

As Steve got in his car and drove off Sam took a seat on the steps next to me. She sighed and rested her head on my shoulder and I rested my head on top of hers. I swore then that I would do what I could to make this up to her; somehow I would make this right.